19 March 2014 – Philippine Ambassador to Turkey Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez visited Georgia from March 12 to 16 to present her credentials to President Giorgi Margvelashvili, meet with officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy, conduct a consular outreach and meet with the Dean of Diplomatic Corps. She was joined by Third Secretary and Vice Consul Ericka Anna T. Abad and Consular Assistant Ceferino Caldez.

During her meeting with Monsignor Marek Solcynski, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Vatican's Nuncio in Georgia, the two exchanged views on the significant developments in Georgia and the Caucasus region.

Ambassador Sanchez met with Mr. Giorgi Zurabashvili, Director of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they discussed the existing linkages between Philippine and Georgian universities, the status of the education sector in the Philippines and Georgia and both governments' initiatives to improve the said sector.

Ambassador Sanchez and Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister David Jalagania met to exchange views on significant world issues and discussed ways to further enhance the level of engagement between the Philippines and Georgia. The proposed convening of the Second Philippines and Georgia Political Consultations was also part of the agenda.

Ambassador Sanchez also met with the Economic Deputy Minister of Georgia, Mr. Mikheil Janelidze, to discuss economic developments and ways to increase the level of trade and investments between the Philippines and Georgia. Tourism, infrastructure, transportation, trade and hydropower resource were the areas for cooperation mentioned in the meeting.

The Embassy also rendered consular services to eight Filipinos working and residing in Georgia. The Embassy processed passport applications, updated the Embassy's data base of Filipinos in Georgia and informed the Filipino community about the forthcoming commencement of registration for Overseas Absentee Voting. The Embassy also had a consultation with the Filipino community about their issues and concerns relative to their stay in Georgia. END